O2 revenue up 1.2 per cent to £1.37bn

Q1 revenue up 1.2 per cent year-on-year adding 100,000 customers to its base

O2 has reported a 1.2 per cent increase in Q1 revenue to £1.37 billion, with profits up marginally by 0.6 per cent to £358 million.

The mobile operator added 100,000 customers in the three month period ending March 31, bringing the overall base to more than 25 million subscribers.

Contract customers increased 2.2 per cent year-on-year to 15.75 million, which now accounts for 63 per cent of its total mobile base. However, it did lose 326,000 prepay customers in the quarter.

More than 12 per cent of O2’s overall customer base are now using 4G – up 31.5 per cent from the year ago period. This figure does not include various MVNOs piggybacking off O2’s network.

Network coverage stands at 96 per cent – up 10 per cent from a year ago, while contract churn excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) remained “market-leading” at 0.9 per cent in Q1.

Multi-million pound spend

O2 also announced that it will invest £80 million into its network in London, installing 1,400 small cells across the capital by the end of the year.

It claimed this will enhance mobile signal in the city and lay the foundations for 5G deployment, which is expected around 2020. The operator’s capital expenditure in the quarter rose 30.08 per cent year-on-year to £193 million.

Network of choice

O2 UK CEO Mark Evans said: “In an ever-competitive market, we continue to provide our customers with compelling reasons to join and stay with us while cementing our position as the network of choice for wholesale partners.

“Coupled with the major investment we are making in our network, this is driving growth and high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

“We will continue to differentiate and deliver for our customers through our customer led, mobile first strategy with innovative products, services and experiences that only come with being part of the O2 family.”